Training Log Archive: bl

Event: NEOC: Boxford State Forest
 

Another NEOC map in desperate need of updating. Last update here was 20 years ago per Mika when standards/expectations were not necessarily what they are today. Some of the mapped green was not even there as far as I could tell. Ernst said the same. Rock features need improving, too. First ran here 11/78, USOC, did H21B (red) - what it was called back then. Posted the map since the watch failed to record the route. Missed out on seeing how close I was on #14. Looks pretty easy but I think Boxford is deceiving, esp with old vegetation interpretation, extra rock features, trails not quite right, extra trails in places etc etc. Nice & challenging forest however.

Boxford SF NEOC meet, meet director was Mika Latva-Kokko. Chilly morning but fine in woods once in motion. Did green, 5.5km, 14c. Had a good run until the very last point when “greed" (or abandon) seemed to get the best of me. I went straight when I should have gone to the path & used an appropriate AP. Instead there was more unanticipated green and although I spotted essential landmarks, my confidence was about 60% when i arrived on the ridge looking for the boulder. Did not see, went right, finally bailed out to the trail I should have used in the first place - then found the optimal AP & approached the point with about 85% confidence. It was on a thick slope, with vis down to maybe 15-20m where the boulder was. I must have been about 20 m. from it the first pass. Shame on me for abandoning the pedantic concept at the very end. #12 was confused by a boulder almost completely hidden by the circle - I expected it to be my point which was another 50m ahead. Almost lost a chunk of time.

Lost maybe 3.5' on 14, 45" on 12, 65' optimal maybe.

Watch seems to have croaked. Not surprised. Maybe just a new battery is needed. It kept time (until hitting something or died) & had acq'd/locked satellites initially. Distance a guess. Time to use the 310.

Green - Splits

Breezy November day. Bog Jog, a version of "around the block, rural-style", was the explanation to the visiting grandchildren. No hunters but did see 1 truck today well in the woods. 3 November nights resulted in 85% of the maggots disappearing. 4 ice bags accompanying the large carton suggested a half-baked cooling attempt. I was puzzled as to why so many maggots in the woods, especially at this time of year. They must have been incubated elsewhere. Such an encounter interferes with the "tonic of wilderness" as remedy for our toxins.

After work, parked along Clinton. Windy, around 50F. Some corn fields, woods, track & back. No plan. One mile at 9:20, 4 times 220 around 6:15-7 pace. Tracks stare honesty in the face. Forgot to turn watch off but cut out the 30mph type stuff.

Upton SF came on the radar screen yesterday from Ed Despard's log. Boxford & Harold Parker ("twins" across Rt 114 in North Andover) and Upton are all c. '78-'84 in my initial experience. The USOC at Boxford was 11/11-12, 1978. I went on a 'foxhunt' (in the basement) & found maps & results. I like such visits to the past and have (largely disorganized) paperwork that I can navigate for the most part to take me there.

C • 'Fox hunt' 4

At the Y. More rain today/rainy period. Had been in the house most of the day accomplishing a few key house jobs - going to town was in order.

O meet at Boxford seems likely Sunday. Boxford harks back to late fall '77 or '78 - haven't been there for maybe as many as 10 years, maybe more. Around then, I was making a transition from hooded sweat shirt and sweat pants with dog companion to O outfit & dog left in car or at home.

Nottingcook loop around 4p. Wet, chilly, gray day - cancelled Veterans' Day parade in Manchester kind-of-day. Fun to go out in the wet brown and gray. Also a lot of company: counted 6 trucks and heard approx. 20 shots tho I saw no hunters. Had a bright red top on. What I didn't care for was a stinking deer carcass covered in maggots by the SVT in the woods accompanied by the approx 12 cu ft container used to drop it off there. The whole place stunk, and the maggots were a freak show, as natural a phenomenon as they are.

"Got Snow" is still around. Dates back to the Nottingcook A meet, fall, 2007. Different truck & plate, however. Z&M had some run-ins with his "smoking stick".

Back lot has new signs, strength in numbers, I guess. No uncertainty anyway...time will tell about the strength.

Weights and cardio at Y.

I think I could climb on a stairmaster in a fictional home basement room with good visual entertainment and in 20' sessions achieve a point of considerable effectiveness but don't seem to be able to do it at gyms at all. Change of attitude would be something to think about since the home part is doomed for fiction.

Dead Garmin battery

Is it a 310XT? This watch replaced my 305 & this has happened to me, others, too.. Watch out:-).